Before the days of television and the internet, people told stories as a way of sharing their
experiences with others. For people who live along the St. Lawrence River, life has always
been a challenge. Surviving the harsh North Country climate, making a living where there's
chronic economic depression, and living on an international border have provided plenty of
experiences worth retelling. A local folklore of reminiscences, tall tales and legends involving
stories of hunting and trapping, guides and game wardens, outlaws, boatbuilders, bootleggers
and storms has made a lively oral narrative tradition that needs to be recorded and preserved.
For 'The River' Project, folklorists from Traditional Arts in Upstate New York [TAUNY] have
interviewed and recorded over 40 individuals--from Cape Vincent and the 1000 Islands to the
St. Lawrence Seaway and Akwesasne-who have been identified in their communities as "good
storytellers." This site contains a selection of these storytellers, the edited text of stories and
audio field recordings of stories from the TAUNY Archives.